Headlines

Rich Lowry

The Muslim Brotherhood delusion

Since the end of Hosni Mubarak, the air has been thick with descriptions of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi as moderates. …

After Mubarak’s fall, we fooled ourselves about the level of support for the Brotherhood. We fooled ourselves about the Brotherhood abiding by its promise not to run for the presidency. We fooled ourselves about what a Morsi victory would mean for democracy. Why stop fooling ourselves now? …

The administration’s reaction to Morsi’s decree has been, “Well, golly, we hope everyone can talk things through.” In its mealy-mouthed noncondemnations, the Obama administration does no favors to the real moderates in the streets of Egypt pushing to get Morsi to back down.

But delusion is hard to give up. We always want to believe that other people are just like us and have, at bottom, the same practical concerns. It’s simply not true of fanatics. “This revolution was not about the price of watermelons,” Ayatollah Khomeini once told an aide worried about inflation.

“And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear….So let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America…”
– Someone, Cairo, 2008

After Mubarak’s fall, we fooled ourselves about the level of support for the Brotherhood. We fooled ourselves about the Brotherhood abiding by its promise not to run for the presidency. We fooled ourselves about what a Morsi victory would mean for democracy. Why stop fooling ourselves now? …

Who is this we you are talking about?

The administration’s reaction to Morsi’s decree has been, “Well, golly, we hope everyone can talk things through.” In its mealy-mouthed noncondemnations, the Obama administration does no favors to the real moderates in the streets of Egypt pushing to get Morsi to back down.

Precisely the approach I would expect from a closet Muslim.

But delusion is hard to give up. We always want to believe that other people are just like us and have, at bottom, the same practical concerns. It’s simply not true of fanatics.

Obama and Morsi are not like us. Brennan and Clapper are like us. Too stupid to look up the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is why Obama has put them in the positions they are in. His parents were commies. His father was a Muslim. His mother married Muslims. His mentor as a child was a communist. His mentor as an adult is a racist.

Is Obama naive or are we naive? Naive people don’t have what it takes to be POTUS.